Coyotes VP and Assistant GM Laurence Gilman tracks team’s prospects

By Jeff Dahlia

December 24th, 2004

Vice President and Assistant General Manager Laurence Gilman offers aninside look to the future of the Coyotes franchise

Over thelast three years, the Coyotes management team has spent numerous hours, daysand months on strategic planning for the future success of the franchise. Theteam is building a solid foundation to stand on, all the while maintainingfiscal responsibility. Above all, the franchise wants to promote a model wherefuture success is built from within.

Hockey’s Future spoke to Vice President and Assistant General ManagerLaurence Gilman, who also doubles as the AHL Utah Grizzlies General Manager. Toan average fan, he might get lost in the shadows cast by the likes of the WayneGretzky, Michael Barnett and Cliff Fletcher. Nevertheless, Gilman has been abig part of how the Coyotes have been shaping up over the years.

From life on the Canadian prairie when the franchise was known as the WinnipegJets, to more than a decade later in the American desert, Gilman has flourishedin the franchise. Starting as legal counsel for the team and handling contractnegotiations, he has seen his career grow in a hockey franchise on the rise.

While juggling a very busy schedule, Gilman was able to offer an inside look atthe key components in building and a solid franchise from within.

Grizzlies start season without a biteAs the season started in the AHL, residents of West Valley City, Utahand Coyotes fan alike were eager to see what the Grizzlies had in store. Theroster contained an impressive blend of young talent and veteran leadership,which many hoped would translate into an improved team.

Things are not going as planned for the Grizzlies. Through 30 games thus far, Utah has had threeseparate losing streaks of eight, six and five games, which in turn has led toan overall record of 9-19-0-2.

Realizing that the current makeup of the roster was missing the correctchemistry and chiefly a quality veteran presence, Gilman and Utah carried out a series of trades. Tryingto shake things up, Jonathan Sim would go to Philadelphia for Peter White, while Jason Jaspers and Nikos Tselios returned to Springfield in exchange for Jarrod Skalde and Terry Virtue. Gilman also went out and signedveteran forward Aaron Gavey, who was playing in Norway.

While Gilman is reluctant to offer an excuse for the dismal start, he doesexplain some important factors regarding the situation.

“We feel the part of that is the virtue of the fact that we have thebroadest base of young prospects that we’ve ever had,” says Gilman.“At no point in the history of our organization has the hockey team hadthis amount of bonafide prospects playing for itsfarm team at one time. If you look, we have three young players on defense in (Keith)Ballard, (Matt) Spiller and (Joe) Callahan, who we project to be NHLplayers some day. We have a young goalie prospect in David LeNeveu, who is demonstrating night in and night outthat he has been a tremendous draft pick for our scouts and very well somedaybe an NHL player. Looking up front, we have Jeff Taffe,Eric Westrum, FredrickSjostrom who all played in the NHL last year. Wealso have KielMcLeod, Randall Gelech, JakubKoreis and Martin Podlesak(who has been hurt).”

Gilman continued, “The bad news is that this is a team that has struggledat times, but the good news is our players are getting a tremendous amount ofexperience that will only make them better players down the road.”

Even though certain prospects are making great strides in their professionalcareers, Gilman realizes that winning is a very important piece of the puzzle.Well before the season started, Gilman and the rest of the Phoenix management envisioned an environmentwhich promoted success through development for all the prospects.

“Historically, if you look at successful minor league teams like Phoenixdid, there is not a 100 percent direct correlation between winning anddeveloping players,” explained Gilman. “Often times the best orwinning minor league teams are the ones that had great veteran minor leagueplayers. That often translates into championship caliber teams. There is noquestion that having a losing franchise is not an environment that you wantyour prospects to develop in. Are they developing? Under certain circumstancesthey are. Do I think that losing is effective in their development? Idon’t think that any player should be taken off the hook, but they arestill developing. Our philosophy while putting the team together for Utah, was to create a winning environment where our playerswould flourish. That hasn’t transpired this early in the season.”

He also pointed out that the loss of two players the franchise projected wouldhave a big impact with Utahthis year.

“In all fairness, we lost two great players in Sheldon Keefe and Martin Podlesak very early on,” said Gilman. ” We arenot trying to use that as an excuse, but I have to be honest when I say weexpected a lot of good things from these two players. With the both of themout, it totally changes the dynamics of the equation we previously had headinginto this season.”

Though the loss of Keefe and Podlesak altered theequation to a degree, Gilman stated the organization was “concerned withthe overall performance” of their players and that, “We believethat our young players, as well as our veteran players all need to be playingup to their potential or at least the level we feel they are capable of playingat.”

To their credit, the Grizzlies have answered that request from management. Whenall the player personnel moves were completed with the addition of Gavey, the team has started to show some life. FromDecember 4th to December 22nd, Utahhas a record of 5-7 during the stretch. It isn’t the best record anyonewould have hoped for, but it gives some hope to scratch out a decent season andgive the organization something to build on.

LeNeveu is having another good season, regardless ofthe team’s suspect defense. Sjostrom, whoslumped early on, is finding success often and is starting to turn in somesolid performances. Gelech has been one of the beenone of the more consistent forwards, notching 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) aswell as working on shrinking his -7 plus/minus rating.

Steelheads proving to be a fruitfulaffiliation

While Gilman tries to get Utahon the right track, he is also keeping an eye on the team’s other affiliate,the Idaho Steelheads, in the ECHL. In contrast to the Grizzlies start, the Steelheadshave had early success.

He has been kept up to date on the Steelheads through various scouting reports,the internet and talking to head coach John Olver on a frequent basis.

“The ECHL is an extremely important developmental tool for a NHL franchise,”says Gilman about the pairing. “Oftentimes we sign very young players whodon’t understand how good the American Hockey League is. Of course it isamplified this year because many high caliber players are obviously playing inthe AHL, who would otherwise be playing in the NHL. The ECHL in many cases is agreat transitional league for young players. It gives players the chance to getused to the rigors of playing professional hockey. It also allows them to entera system that will hopefully enable them to perform well whether it is in theAHL or NHL.”

When asked how fortunate he thought it was for the Coyotes and their prospectsto be under the direction of Olver, Gilman says,“Having John [Olver] is a great bonus. Seeinghow he operates and how he deals with his players reinforced that Idaho was a first-rateoperation. He treats all of his players like they are a part of his family andhe is an excellent steward for our young players.”

Gilman also stated that the proximity between Utahand Idaho aswell as the fact the players were going to a Kelly Cup championship was a win-winsituation.

With prospects spread about the globe, Gilman admitshe would have wished to have had the opportunity to get out and watch more ofthe franchise’s prospects. However, his duty as the Grizzlies GeneralManager has precluded from doing so. Don’t be fooled though. Gilmanstates he is well aware of what all his prospects are up to through updatedfranchise player and productivity database. It is updated on a very frequentbasis and keeps him up to date on everyone.

“One regular aspect of my day is to go into the scouting system eachmorning to see who our scouts are watching and to read their reports,” heexplains about tracking prospects. “In essence, I know what guys aredoing on a daily basis in either juniors, college or Europe. I am able to see how our prospects are progressingon a daily basis through the eyes of our scouts. In addition, I speak on aregular basis with our Chief Scout, Vaughn Karpan andEddie Mio, our Director of Player Development.”

For the first time this season, he will finally get a chance to view the progressof Kevin Porter (USA),EnverLisin(RUS) and DmitriPestunov(RUS).All three are taking part in the IIHF World Juniors Championship in North Dakota, on theirrespective national teams.

“My attention has been focused towards getting Utah on the right track as of late,”explained Gilman. “After the juniors tournament,I will be coordinating trips to visit with and watch some of our prospects whoare currently in junior or in the college ranks.”

Getting out and watching the future of the franchise is just another importantaspect in Gilman’s routine, because he also happens to be responsible forplayer contract negotiations for the Coyotes.

While looking at either their in house talent or possibly a free agent, Gilmansays it is extremely important to him have a vivid picture about a particularplayer, his skill set and where he might fit into the picture when sizing himup with the rest of the talent pool as well as other NHL team’sprospects. He wants to see everything, all the way down to the situational playa prospect must face.

“You want to see things like, for instance, does the coach put yourprospect in the game late when they are protecting a lead? Is he a guy whenthey are down a goal or does he tend to use your prospect in important defensivesituations or even to kill a penalty?” he listed. “You can look ata scouting report and see all the things a player is doing, but there isnothing that can replace getting a three dimensional picture in your mind abouta player, which comes from being in the arena and watching the game inperson.”How the future will shape upWhen asked how the Coyotes will continue to monitorincoming players, Gilman says it is necessary for the club to actively maintaina level of consistency when it comes to scouting future talent. After talkingto Chief Scout Vaughn Karpan on a very frequentbasis, he feels that the franchise is well on track and prepared if a drafthappens happens this season or next season, wheneverthat may be.

As far as filing any holes the franchise might have, he says, “We feelthat we are at a point where we feel we have broad base of prospects and youngtalent. That is something that we want to continue to build upon. As anorganization, we want to creatively diversify a group of talented prospects aswe can, with an eye towards how the game will continue to evolve.

“The base of our job, which is primarily carried out by our scoutingstaff, is to not just look at the immediate needs of the organization butanticipate what they are going to be future, he says. “We need to draftplayers who will ultimately fill the roles on a particular team for thefuture.”

The Assistant General Manager is not one to steal a page out of a history book,but he has in fact used history to identify what has led to successful teamsand organizations in the past.

“In order to truly understand how to build a winner from within, you lookat all the championship teams of the past,” Gilman explains. “Theyall have a number one centerman. They all have a bonafide goal scoring winger. They have a physicaldefenseman who makes others accountable in their own zones. They have anoffensive quarterback who can run a power play and carry the puck up the ice.And most of all, they obviously have strong goaltending.”

Gilman says whether the scouts are drafting North America,European, college or junior players, it is important to continue to identifythose key elements. Ultimately, they hope these prospects will develop intotheir roles and become key components of the Coyotes franchise for the future.

Copyright 2004 Hockey’sFuture.Do not duplicate withoutpermission of the editorial staff.